.
Eva Monheim
  • About
    • Contact
    • In the News
    • Articles
    • Testimonials From Students
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Tips for the Garden >
      • August
      • September
      • October
      • November
  • Book
    • Book Reviews
    • To Purchase Shrubs & Hedges - Author - Signed Copy
    • To Purchase Shrubs & Hedges - Unsigned Copy
    • Supporters, Friends & Family
  • Events
  • Lectures...
  • Blog
    • Blog Topics
  • Art and Design
  • Photos
    • Broadleaf Evergreens
    • Evergreen- Semi-Evergreen Shrubs
    • Conifers
    • Small Flowering Trees
    • Deciduous Shade Trees
    • Deciduous Flowering Shrubs
    • Invasive Plants
    • Vines and Lianas
    • Apple Tasting Workshop Photos
    • Wreath Class Photos
  • Student Research
    • Cindy Ahern
    • Louise Clarke
    • Erin Ramsden
    • Kristie Anderson
    • Jing Bian
  • New Page

Forest Bathing in Standard Time 

11/3/2015

2 Comments

 
​Today was the first day of standard time.  This time of year is always special to me – a transition between fall and the coming of winter, and an extra hour of sleep!  The temperatures have still been mild in the Mid-Atlantic region so, a walk along the Raritan and Delaware Canal just north of Stockton, New Jersey was the perfect way to spend the afternoon. 
Picture
The Delaware River and the canal meet up creating an infinity line where the waterfall meets the river. 
Picture
Washed in afternoon sunlight, the trail revealed vibrant colors and little surprises along the way. 
​I call these fall walks color bathing. The intensity of the tree colors that remain, reflect off the skin and the eyes soak in the brilliance, shifting any negative energy one might have into a positive flow.  The longer I walked the better I felt as I looked above me and to both sides of the trail. 
​I know in Japan there is a practice called tree or forest bathing – walking in green to improve one’s health and overall mental outlook.  The green color is calming but the color bathing of gold, orange and red is something that I just can’t explain – it takes tree bathing to an entirely different level.  I smile from ear to ear!  The trees are showing their true colors and I am soaking it all in, every last morsel before the cold winter sets in. 
Picture
The American beech (Fagus grandifolia) was the most brilliant in the sun light. 
Picture
But then again, the tulip trees (Liriodendron tulipifera) were quite intense yellow-gold too!
Picture
My heart sang at the sight of staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina) in reds and oranges. 
​The staghorns from the staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina) were in great abundance.  Their deep, velvety, crimson color popped against the golden leaves of Oriental bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus) and its red berries with orange coverings framed the wonderful plumes.  The horns make a luscious tea - high in vitamin C. ​
Picture
Picture
Shiny colored surfaces from these mushrooms growing on a dead tree were more evident as the sunlight caught their glossy surfaces. 
Picture
I was lucky enough to find all four of the sassafras’ (Sassafras albidum) leaves to exam the colors.  The simple leaf, the left and right mittens and the three lobed forms were all present and accounted for.
Sources
To read more on the…

Delaware and Raritan Canal
http://www.dandrcanal.com/ 
​
Japanese tree or forest bathing
http://www.hphpcentral.com/article/forest-bathing
​

The response of color on the eye
http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/light/U12L2b.cfm
Picture
Sassafras (Sassafras albidum) reflected a warm brown-orange as the intense colors were waning. 
Picture
With its golden leaves almost gone, the common witch-hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) glowed in the late afternoon sun.  The fragrance was a nice send off as I headed home. 
2 Comments

Nature and Her Miracles

10/22/2015

2 Comments

 
Picture
Bumblebee pollinating swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata)
Picture
​One thing that I never take for granted - nature and her miracles that appear each and every moment if we are willing to take the time to stop and gaze at a bumblebee pollinating swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) or a tiger swallowtail butterfly sipping nectar from a bottlebrush buckeye (Aesculus parviflora).  Things that seem to be small which happen to be much greater than we could ever imagine.  Just the mere act of a bee transferring pollen from one plant to another sets in motion an action that could create the next resistant plant, or one with a new colored flower.  Things that we should not take for granted.  
​Or it could be the quick dip in temperature that shifts a cell division to create an entirely new DNA with in a plant’s cell creating an entirely new variety. The tiny unseen things that occur in nature – later appearing as a new and 
marvelous variation of the species.This year we had many plants blooming out of synchronization.  Some plants blooming earlier or later than usual while others blooming at the same time with plants that they never bloom with. This I believe can trigger additional variations within species such as interspecies crosses that may create new lines of plants.  I think of the London planetree (Platanus x acerifolia) which is a great example of this action – a naturally occurring interspecies cross between the American planetree (Platanus occidentalis) and the Oriental planetree
​(
Platanus orientalis). I sometimes wonder what would happen if the California planetree (Platanus racemosa) crossed with the American planetree (Platanus occidentalis) – would the tree be hardy on the east and the west coasts?  Would this tree be bi-coastal? If I were a bee or if I were the wind, who would I help cross pollinate to come up with the next tree resistant to the emerald ash borer. Wouldn’t that be grand!!
2 Comments

Fall is a Special Time

10/9/2015

7 Comments

 
Picture
Short-pappus goldenrod- Solidago sephacelata 'Golden Fleece'
Picture
Coneflower - Echinacea ‘Vanilla Cupcake’ 
Picture
Waterlily – Nymphaea ‘Margaret Mary’ 
Mandevilla - Dipladenia Rio™ Deep Red
Picture

​Fall is a special time of the year!  It seems that the fall display begins with the shift in the clarity of the sky as temperatures begin to cool and the moisture in the atmosphere is reduced from the hazy days of August. I like to assess my garden – take pictures and note what has done exceptionally well in our weather conditions.  The short-pappus goldenrod’s (Solidago sephacelata ‘Golden Fleece’) bloom is earlier than usual by a few weeks.  It looks beautiful in the containers on my patio. The coneflower (Echinacea ‘Vanilla Cupcake’) has stolen the show for the last two months – they are blooms that are sturdy and almost everlasting. It started blooming in July and is still creating a show.  
​In my small tub water garden, the blue waterlily (Nymphaea ‘Margaret Mary’) continues to push forth its blooms. It has flowered almost every day since I brought it home in July. Even though it is a tropical waterlily, it can be treated like an annual or taken in for the winter months.  I think I will just take in the large tub and put it by my sliding doors to get optimal light during the winter months – which includes a small school of fish. 
​The coleus have reached mammoth proportions creating a wonderful bold visual. But, the big prize in my garden this year without question is the Mandevilla vine (Dipladenia Rio™ Deep Red).  I have had this plant for several years, each year getting bigger than the last – providing rich, deep red blooms throughout the summer.  I’ll take it to my office at the university when the temperatures start to dip below 50 degrees.  It usually becomes a conversation piece when students and colleagues come in to chat.  But, the flowers do eventually fade due to lower lighting conditions.  I will enjoy it all winter as it continues to vine up its post – I will look forward to its blooms next growing season.
7 Comments
Forward>>
     
    ​​

    Archives

    May 2018
    April 2018
    February 2018
    December 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    March 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015

P.O. Box 860
​Glenside, PA 19038​​

www.evamonheim.com
To Book an Event or Commission a Work  Call Eva  215-870-6520 

​Eva Monheim 
​evamonheim@gmail.com 

Eva Monheim Copyright © 2015 - 2021  All Content